This massive flat-topped mound, standing 11 metres high with a base diameter of 53 metres, appears at first glance to be a classic Norman motte and bailey castle. Yet beneath its earthen bulk may lie something far older. Local tradition preserves ancient names for the site: Castle Guard, from the Gaelic Caiseal Guthard, meaning “the stone fort of the raised voice,” and the surrounding valley was known as Glenn na mBodhur, the Valley of the Deaf, where the clamour of battle supposedly couldn’t penetrate. According to medieval texts, this was where the Noifis, or Committee of Nine, held their winter sessions to examine Ireland’s ancient laws alongside St Patrick’s delegation, determining their compatibility with Christian doctrine.

The monument’s complex history reveals itself through careful archaeological investigation. Thomas Wright’s 1748 illustrations show a double-walled octagonal structure crowning the summit, along with two outer defensive banks that have since largely vanished. Stone facing discovered at the mound’s base suggests it may have been built atop an earlier cashel, whilst recent geophysical surveys have revealed extensive archaeological features extending well beyond the visible earthwork, including evidence of a D-shaped bailey measuring roughly 60 by 55 metres attached to the northern side. The Normans likely adapted this strategically important site when they arrived; Orpen believed this was where the first Pipard castle of ‘Atherdee’ stood between 1185 and 1188, before Robert the Bruce allegedly burnt its wooden superstructure in 1315.

Today, visitors can still trace the outline of the wide fosse that surrounds the motte and spot remnants of the causeway that once provided access via a ramp up the southeastern side. Though the octagonal fortification that once crowned the summit was removed by the local parish priest following a brief nineteenth-century attempt at restoration by one Dr Blackhall, the site continues to yield secrets. Archaeological testing has revealed numerous features scattered across the surrounding landscape, whilst gradiometer surveys have detected ditches and possible enclosures that hint at a far more extensive medieval complex than the solitary mound suggests, all testament to this location’s enduring strategic importance throughout Irish history.